To date, there has been a semiconductor apparatus including a set value storage unit that stores a set value determined based on an initial value of a characteristic of the semiconductor apparatus, and a detector that detects degradation of the characteristic of the semiconductor apparatus based on a value of the characteristic of the semiconductor apparatus at given timing and the set value stored in the set value storage unit.
The conventional semiconductor apparatus diagnoses degradation of a semiconductor device such as a power metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) included in the semiconductor apparatus. The semiconductor device is driven when the semiconductor apparatus performs normal operation for supplying power to an external device.
For this reason, while diagnosing degradation of the semiconductor device, the semiconductor apparatus is not able to perform normal operation and has to stop supplying power to an external device. As such, the conventional semiconductor apparatus device has had to stop operation during diagnosis of degradation.
The following is a reference document.    [Document 1] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2011-071174.